Hello,
I'm quite new to the whole CPAP thing; however, if I may:
+ Where I live the municipal water has an extremely high dissolved iron content. So high in fact that not even normal water softeners can remove it entirely and what is removed is replaced with either sodium or potassium depending on the salt used for regeneration; thus, tap water isn't recommended by my DME and softened water isn't recommended as the sodium in it concentrates and might cause issues. Therefore, we use either distilled or in a pinch the Reverse Osmosis water from the final filter as it's very close to the distilled water in quality (good to be a Chemist, I have the cool toys to test the water )

+ The other consideration, my Grand Father ran out of distilled water used soft-water water once; however, his equipment also had a pure oxygen supply and we suspect that the pure oxygen reacted with the chlorine compound(s) used by the municipal water treatment that the water softener couldn't remove; thus, resulting in a visit to the ER for chlorine exposure. The ER Doctor very strongly told my Grand Parents to use only distilled water in his equipment due to the pure oxygen! The Doc also told us that this wasn't the first time something like this had happened. :eek:

+ In response to some of the older posts in this thread:
As for drinking distilled water... I'm a Chemist, AFAIK - there's no harm in drinking distilled water for the average, healthy, adult person. Many (if not most; however, that's a guess) people are not fully hydrated to begin with so even if there was some issue with mineral depletion due to the distilled water (bahh, humbug) such would be negated by the lack of hydration in the average person. Keep in mind, our body has an active mechanism to keep the proper electrolyte levels and obtains most of the required electrolytes from solid foods, not water. To unbalance this system, in a normal healthy adult person, one would have to consume a fairly large amount of water, in fact, it wouldn't matter if the water was tap, deionized, or distilled water by the time one consumed the amount needed to cause harm (hyponatraemia). Finally something to note, the CDC lists distillation as one of the methods for purification of water for drinking (wanted to post a link to the CDC here but I am not allowed yet ) and is used in many parts of the world to provide safe drinking water. Distillation of water is also the primary method in an emergency situation for safe drinking water production - fast, safe, cheap. The worse thing about drinking either distilled or Reverse Osmosis treated water... the taste. We are so used to the small amounts of minerals in the water that the taste is "flat" and that gives the impression that there is something wrong with the water.

I presume it's a supply and demand thing. We use it because it's available and it's available because we use it.

They seem to sell quite a bit of distilled water here in the US, so it's available and cheap. There's a big section at the local Walmart, and it is often running low, so people must be buying it.

However, I wonder why Americans buy so much distilled water. Is it CPAP'ers, or people who are afraid of their drinking water? I know at one time, steam irons users used distilled water, but who irons clothes these days? Some people use it in car batteries, but the average user doesn't use much battery water in a year.

I notice some distilled water marketed as being for babies, presumably for mixing formula. Maybe that's where it gets used.

Maybe I should lurk in the water aisle at my local Walmart and take a survey.

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If it's midnight and a DME tells you it's dark outside, go and check it yourself.

Easy one for me -- my tap water is well water so I'm sticking to distilled water in the humidifier. However, I do use warm tap water for cleaning my equipment which is apparently against manufacturer recommendations -- but if it's good enough to drink, I figure it's good enough for cleaning. The humidifier tank gets emptied and left out to dry daily -- and on weekends I wash it and let it sit with vinegar and tap water for a bit.

I presume it's a supply and demand thing. We use it because it's available and it's available because we use it.

They seem to sell quite a bit of distilled water here in the US, so it's available and cheap. There's a big section at the local Walmart, and it is often running low, so people must be buying it.

However, I wonder why Americans buy so much distilled water. Is it CPAP'ers, or people who are afraid of their drinking water? I know at one time, steam irons users used distilled water, but who irons clothes these days? Some people use it in car batteries, but the average user doesn't use much battery water in a year.

I notice some distilled water marketed as being for babies, presumably for mixing formula. Maybe that's where it gets used.

Maybe I should lurk in the water aisle at my local Walmart and take a survey.

Someone needs to let me in on the secret location at Walmart where the Distilled water is. I was there the other day and it's not in the grocery section with the drinking water. I ended up going to the grocery store and got it for $.89/gallon...

I don't use it in the humidifier, and I'm sticking to that. This is for the radiator coolant.

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